This invention relates generally to electrical wall switching fixtures for homes, offices or plant facilities, and more particularly to attachments which monitor or indicate the on-off condition of switching fixtures.
Prior industrial-type switches have employed neon glow lamps which were connected across the terminals of a switch (through a suitable current-limiting resistor) such that the voltage normally appearing across the terminals, when the switch was off, illuminated the lamp. In the past it has been a problem to locate the lamp in a position where it could be readily seen while at the same time being somewhat concealed and out of the way. Any wiring of the lamp leads directly to the terminals of the switch has proved to be unsatisfactory in that the latter often accommodate several leads of No. 12 or No. 14 gauge wire, which are large compared to the fine wire making up the leads of the lamp or its series resistor.
Efforts to locate a lamp in the (translucent) toggle handle or operating member of the switch have met with some success, although this involves the construction of a special switch having provision for holding the lamp in such predetermined position. In existing facilities, installation of such illuminated toggle switches involves a complete substitution of the existing switch mechanism, which often entails considerable expense with high labor costs.